Nation Briefs

July 23, 2006

MEMPHIS, TENN.

Two remain in hospital after attack by worker

Two victims of a knife-wielding grocery store employee remained hospitalized Saturday after the man attacked eight co-workers and was finally stopped by a witness who pulled a gun, authorities said. Elartrice Ingram, 21, was charged with nine counts of attempted first-degree murder, police said. The attack Friday apparently stemmed from a work dispute, investigators said. Ingram was taken to a hospital complaining of chest pains Friday before being released to police. He was in jail Saturday and was expected to appear in court Tuesday, officials said. Two women remained hospitalized Saturday, one in serious condition, and the other in fair condition. The other victims were treated and released, according to a nursing supervisor at the Regional Medical Center. Seven were stabbed, while another suffered heat-related symptoms while being chased, police said. Another person was threatened, resulting in the nine charges against Ingram, The Commercial Appeal reported. WICHITA, KAN.

2 starving girls found in home's basement

Two emaciated girls who told police they ate only when their father wasn't traveling on business were hospitalized after police found them in an advanced state of starvation. The 6- and 7-year-old girls were found Friday in a home's basement, were they were kept. The girls' stepmother, whose biological children were found healthy and well-fed upstairs, was taken in for questioning. Their father, traveling on business, was to be questioned when he returned, police said. State social workers discovered the girls after receiving a tip and checking on their welfare. They then called police. The two girls told police they ate whenever their father was home, which wasn't a lot. The house had plenty of food, and the stepsiblings, a 4-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, were well cared for, Bastian said. They have been placed in protective custody, where the emaciated girls also will go once they leave the hospital. NORFOLK, VA.

Indictment names 11 in gunrunning scheme

People were paid with cash or cocaine to legally buy firearms in Virginia that were then peddled illegally on the streets of New York City, according to an indictment naming 11 suspects. The ring purchased dozens of firearms at Norfolk and Portsmouth gun shops and dumped them in New York in 2004 and 2005, the indictment unsealed last week in U.S. District Court said. Under the so-called straw gun purchases, convicted felons used friends and relatives with clean records to buy guns legally. The felons then sold the weapons for a high profit, federal prosecutors said. Seven of the 11 suspects were in custody Friday, The Virginian-Pilot reported Saturday. The U.S. attorney's office deferred further questions until a news conference Tuesday. ROME, GA.

Marriage proposal flight ends in crash

A plane that was chartered to help a man propose to his girlfriend crashed, injuring the couple and the pilot, authorities said. Relatives holding a sheet with "Erica, will you marry me?" painted on it watched from the ground as the Cessna 127, circling low over the airport, stalled and then crashed into the ground Friday evening. The couple, Adam Sutton and Erica Brussee, and the pilot were taken to a hospital with injuries that did not appear to be life threatening, authorities said. Brussee suffered a broken leg, and the other two had cuts and gashes. As Brussee was loaded into the ambulance, she said "Tell Adam I said yes," said Joshua Willis, Sutton's cousin. The ring was lost in the wreckage, he said. LITTLE ROCK, ARK.

Two escapees caught in Florida traffic stop

Two work-release prisoners from Arkansas who drove off in state vans when they were supposed to pick up other prisoners were caught Friday in Florida, a prison spokeswoman said. Clifton Sanders, 24, and Tab Delancy, 41, were apprehended during a traffic stop in Ocala, Fla., Dina Tyler of the Arkansas Department of Correction said. Sanders and Delancy escaped July 9 from the Benton Unit by driving off in state vehicles instead of picking up other prisoners at an Affiliated Foods warehouse. The vans were later found. DENVER

36 pit bulls euthanized after confiscation

Thirty-six pit bulls confiscated from a home were euthanized this week after their owner struck a plea agreement that allowed him to avoid jail time under Denver's ordinance banning the breed. Denver Animal Control killed the dogs Thursday after receiving a court order, the shelter's executive director Doug Kelley said Friday. The dogs' owner, Michael Padilla, signed over ownership of the dogs to the city under a plea agreement that included a suspended 90-day jail sentence and a year of probation. He faced multiple counts of neglect, cruelty and illegal possession of pit bulls. The dogs were seized May 29 from a Denver home, where Padilla kept them since he arrived from Texas and until he could move the dogs to the suburbs.